Early voter turnout low in 5th District

Turnout was low this morning as voters in the 5th Congressional District cast their votes in a rare special election to pick someone to succeed Rahm Emanuel in Congress.

Those who did vote tended to be election diehards who said they never missed a chance to have their voices heard.

"If you don't vote, you have to keep your mouth shut," said Bill Kirst, 61, a retired furniture-company owner who voted at Courtney Language Arts Academy on the North Side.

Voters are choosing nominees from a crowded field of Democratic, Republican and Green Party candidates, with the special general election scheduled for April 7.

At the Chicago Board of Elections, the phone bank -- a group of about 30 elections judges and investigators who take calls on polling place irregularities -- was mostly trouble-free this morning, said Jim Allen, a board spokesman.

"It's quiet," he said, joking that he wondered if the phone system was broken. "It's eerily quiet."

Even so, he and other elections officials said, the turnout thus far was not out of the ordinary of a primary.

He said the only complaint thus far was that two polling precincts in the same building were in each other's locations and voters had to be redirected to the right spot.

Allen said there were about 300,000 registered voters in city voting in the primary, while there were about 40,000 voters in the suburbs.

The day was shaping up to set historic lows in turnout, he added. In 1995, when voters in convicted Rep. Mel Reynolds' district voted on a replacement, primary turnout was only 18 percent.

Today, "it's looking low so far," Allen said.

An official at Courtney Academy said only about 50 people had voted by 10:40 a.m.

Nearby Ravenswood School saw about the same number, said precinct judge Mary Stasny. By comparison, in the November presidential election, the polling station saw about 250 voters by the same time of the morning.

Get candidate profiles, polling places and past stories on the race on chicagotribune.com.

Also, head to the Tribune's local politics blog, Clout Street, for results and analysis tonight.